South's length, Louie slip past North, 76-66

Surrounded by tall teammates, Krogman's 27 leads all scorers

Surrounded by tall teammates, Krogman's 27 leads all scorers

July 24, 2008|By Dave Vilhauer, dvilhauer@aberdeennews.com

Facing Louie Krogman has always been a tall order, but that task was much larger than usual Wednesday night. Krogman, surrounded by five teammates 6 feet, 6 inches or taller, helped lead the South to a 76-66 victory over the North during the boys' basketball portion of the South Dakota High School All-Star games at Wachs Arena. “We just came out and played hard and had a lot of fun,” said Krogman of White River, who led all scorers with 27 points. “This is all for the fans. It's just fun to come out here and show everybody what you can do.” The South, which had a decided size advantage at nearly every position on the floor, eventually worked the ball inside where the North had a difficult time matching up. “It was pretty easy to take advantage of,” said 6-6 South post player Skyler Bloch of Scotland. “They had some hoppers. They could jump above us, but we got our bodies into them.” Bloch finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds and did most of his damage in the second half. “We got a little chewing at halftime,” Bloch said. “I know that's unusual for an all-star game, but they made us get after it and it helped out a lot.” The South, which led throughout the game, used its height more on defense than offense. It consistently clogged the lane, forcing the North to bomb away from the perimeter. “When we penetrate we have to kick. We can't take it to the hoop at three 6-7 guys in the lane,” said North guard Jordan Buddenhagen of Huron who scored 15 points. “We have to use our quickness and our shooting ability.” The South had so many big guys that there were times that the 5-11 Buddenhagen was guarded by a defender nearly a foot taller. “It's the way it goes when you have three or four 6-7 guys out there,” Buddenhagen said. “You have to run and pass and look for that open man. You're not going to be able to take it to the hoop or otherwise it gets swatted.” While the South was always in control, it had a hard time shaking its opponent. The North, which made four more three-pointers in the contest, was able to hang around thanks in part to the play of Al Bawek. The Doland-Conde standout scored seven points in 42 seconds during one stretch of the second quarter. “I was just feeling it, I guess,” said 5-8 Bawek, who finished with 13 points. “It's not easy playing against big guys because they can block me all the time.” Trevor Lopour of Stanley County also kept the North in the game with 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots. However, Bloch also lived up to his name, patrolling the lane and swatting away a pair of shots. The fact that the South held the North to 35 percent shooting was not an accident. “Coming into an all-star game, you'd think practice would be easy, but it wasn't,” Bloch said. “We worked on defense. We stressed defense the entire three days we were here and it paid off.” Of course, having a player like Krogman pays off as well. “He's phenomenal. He's got everything. He's the total package,” Bloch said. It was Krogman who helped shatter Bloch's dream of a possible state title last winter during the opening round of the State B tournament. “It's way more fun playing with him than against him,” Bloch said. Krogman did not have tall teammates while at White River, but he has grown accustomed to playing with bigger players at the University of South Dakota in the past month. “I've been playing down at the 'U' and we have a lot of big guys down there,” Krogman said. “It's always good to have a big guy on your side, especially when the legs start going at the end. You can just pound it inside like we did.” As fate would have it, Krogman was decked in the red and white of the South, the same colors he will don for USD. “It's kind of ironic that I got to see this,” Krogman said. “I looked in the mirror when I first got dressed and it didn't look right for a second, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.” SOUTH: Louie Krogman 10-22 3-3 27, Jordan Miller 4-11 0-0 8, Jordan Long 3-6 2-6 8, Ryan Jans 2-5 0-0 4, Skyler Bloch 8-10 2-5 18, Trent Graves 1-3 2-4 4, Heath Hult 2-5 2-2 7, Alex Scholten 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-63 11-20 76. NORTH: Jordan Buddenhagen 5-13 1-2 15, Tyler Hinker 0-3 0-0 0, Shane Cunningham 4-13 0-0 9, Trevor Lopour 5-12 1-2 11, Cory Lesnar 1-4 2-4 4, Al Bawek 5-11 1-2 13, Kyle Grubb 2-5 0-0 4, Aaron King 2-7 2-4 8, Matt McCranie 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 25-69 7-16 66. South 17 37 58 76 North 13 32 52 66 3-point field field goals - South 5-20 (Krogman 4-10, Miller 0-6, Jans 0-1, Graves 0-1, Hult 1-2); North 9-22 (Buddenhagen 4-8, Cunningham 1-2, Lopour 0-2, Bawek 2-4, Grubb 0-1, King 2-5). Total fouls - South 12; North 19. Rebounds - South 46 (Bloch 11); North 41 (Lopour 12). Turnovers - South 11; North 11. Assists - South 11 (Krogman 4); North 4 (Hinker 2). Blocked Shots - South 4 (Bloch 2); North 6 (Lopour 3). Steals - South 2; North 8 (Cunningham 2, Lesnar 2, Bawek 2). Officials - Cory Aadland, Gary Grove, Doug Noem.